Volunteer in any of our 15 community gardens. Please visit seedleaf.org to see all of our volunteer opportunities.

Make a monthly gift and become a member of the Seedleaf Perennial Club.

Join us for our Master Community Gardener and our Master Community Composter Trainings. Find details at seedleaf.org

It also helps us when you tell your friends about our mission and why you support Seedleaf!

Financial Summary

Revenue vs Expenses - All Years

Expense Breakdown - Recent Year

Statements

Mission Statement

The purpose of Seedleaf is to increase the amount, affordability, nutritional value, and sustainability of food available to people at risk of hunger in central Kentucky. Seedleaf carries out its work through these activities:

Technical assistance for individuals and groups engaged in food production, preparation, preservation, and distribution aimed at eliminating hunger and boosting community health

Demonstrations of successful, affordable, sustainable approaches to feeding the hungry through local food production, preparation, preservation, and distribution

Cultivation and distribution of nutritious food to charitable feeding programs

Education, job training, and entrepreneurial skills development in food production, preparation, preservation and distribution, boosting the food supply for community members at risk of hunger while simultaneously combating unemployment, under-employment, and juvenile delinquency

Volunteer recruitment, education, and management to increase the human power applied toward increasing food production and food security while simultaneously strengthening community connections and stemming community deterioration

Background Statement

Seedleaf first broke ground in April, 2007, at Amburgey Gardens in south Lexington. Snow was falling on a few brave souls as they turned the cold soil in preparation for a potato crop. Now entering our 10th growing season, Seedleaf is a vibrant non-profit organization committed to connecting people with food and caring for neglected spaces. Seedleaf harnesses the goodwill and energy of volunteers to install and maintain gardens throughout Lexington, growing gardeners and food along the way.

Impact Statement

During the 2016 growing season we maintained sixteen urban community gardens, had over 950 volunteers and participants, and coordinated over 600 hours of educational activities.

Seedleaf initiated and managed a large range of educational events in 2016. We hosted weekly Get In the Garden (GIG) Events, and monthly Garden Grill Outs to cultivate social capital.

Seedleaf has also been a leader in developing composting initiatives in the city. Last year Seedleaf ‘recycled' nearly 40,000 gallons of food waste from downtown restaurants. This effort saves money for the city in waste management and landfill costs while generating rich soil for urban gardens.

Our goals for 2017 include:

Developing a 2 acre parcel to serve as the Seedleaf Urban Farm, a training space for aspiring gardeners.

Caring for 15 free u-pick community gardens in North Lexington.

Deploying our Master Community Gardener Trainees to help with our gardening and composting programs.

Seedleaf advocates who can share our story and let their friends and families know about the good work Seedleaf is doing.

Garden Sponsors--Help Seedleaf maintain one of our community gardens for $4,800 each year.

Board Members--Seedleaf is actively looking for board members who can help us set and attain ambitious goals on behalf of food-insecure neighborhoods in Lexington.

CEO/Executive Director StatementGrowing and sharing food continues to be the heartbeat of Seedleaf. Nothing thrills me more than explaining to our neighbors that they are welcome to pick those onions or those cherry tomatoes, and that we are glad that they came into the garden. Our volunteers make this possible: they are our unfair advantage. We are always glad to share the work with newcomers, so please join us when you can!

Board Chair Statement

Seedleaf is a nonprofit organization that exist to nourish communities by growing, cooking, sharing, and recycling food. Currently Seedleaf has 16 gardens in a variety of communities in Lexington that are located in food deserts.

Currently one of Seedleaf’ s biggest successes is the new parcel of land we have acquired for an urban farm which is located in downtown Lexington. The plans with this urban farm is to grow more fruits and vegetables, have more community members involved, and to use the farm for tours and educational opportunities throughout the community.

Some current successes that Seedleaf is having is with a program called SEEDS. SEEDS (Service, Education and Entrepreneurship in Downtown Spaces) is a summer youth program for kids who get the opportunity to learn about healthy food and healthy lifestyle choices. Students spend time outdoors growing food, cooking and learning about culinary jobs, selling produce to neighbors and making new friends. Seedleaf offers a community master gardener program to those who are interested in learning more about gardens and food deserts. Seedleaf also provides services such as the Compost Carpool, a residential food waste recycling service, and building raised beds for a small fee.

Probably the biggest challenge faced by Seedleaf is financial support. The addition of the Urban Farm this will become a large expense with Seedleaf. It would be great if we had additional funding to hire another staff person to help with this farm. Also, many people may know what Seedleaf is but haven’t taken the chance to get involved. It would be great to see more people involved by offering volunteer classes. The SEEDS program is a great success for our youth but funding it can be difficult. To fund one child through SEEDS is $500. By having more income we may be able to grow the SEEDS program and taken in more children and offer it at other times during the year besides June and July.

Currently I am the board president of Seedleaf. I got involved in Seedleaf because I believe in the mission. Food deserts affect everybody. I believe that families are entitled to have access to fresh fruits and vegetables. Many times when living in a food desert you aren’t blessed with this. Many of us take advantage of the fact that we can drive to any grocery store and pick out what we went to eat when we want it. Studies show that in food deserts, most families do not have access to transportation. Not having access to transportation limits what you are able to feed your family. When children are not fed right, studies show that they aren’t able to perform in school to their fullest potential. Programs like Seedleaf also teach important life skills such as gardening and cooking produce. Life skills are crucial for survival. Being involved with garden gives you a whole new skill set that you may not have currently had in your life. These skills are provided by Seedleaf at no cost to the community. Our gardens are free and open to all.

Deploy and support 15 newly-trained Master Community Gardeners to help us with the composting and the gardening programs. This allows to keep our operating costs low while we make meaningful volunteer commitments available to interested parties, and to broaden our reach to even more free u-pick gardens.

Grow and give away 300 pounds of fresh Fayette County produce in Lexington's food deserts. We are not a hand-out organization. Seedleaf invites those at risk of food insecurity to join us at harvest times and take the freshly-picked vegetables they know their family will appreciate. This endows the gift of food with some effort and thereby some value.

Install 50 Residential Raised Beds--gardens at homes that will allow more neighbors to get in on the fun of growing a bit of one's own food. This new service will help Seedleaf create a new income stream, and will help with our long-term sustainability. It may also prepare the way for future growers (perhaps the graduates of our youth programming) to have some sustainable green-collar jobs in urban agriculture here in Lexington.

Further develop our 7 Micro-Farms. Seedleaf has been given the opportunity to grow food at a number of neglected plots of land and to cultivate urban orchards. In this way we hope to broaden and deepen access to healthy local fruits and nuts, as well as more familiar fruits and vegetables for our neighbors at risk of food insecurity, and to do so for the long term.

Complete a community garden signage project. Welcome signs and interpretive signage in Seedleaf gardens will increase community awareness of gardens as a free source of fresh food, and invite neighbors to explore the spaces and participate in the act of growing and harvesting their own produce.

4Seedleaf continues to implement a -week training for volunteers willing to make a significant contribution of time to our organization. In the spring of each year we offer a Master Community Gardening Training. In 2016, 25 trainees acquired the skills and confidence to represent Seedleaf's aims at numerous garden events and composting opportunities throughout the growing season.

Growing our sustainability as an organization is an essential part of achieving our long-term goals. Therefore, we aim to gain more recurring donors in the coming years, and have created a membership for these supporters called the Perennial Club.

In our ten years of existence as an organization, Seedleaf has made a good start. We have learned a lot about how to offer quality programming in kitchens and gardens through area after-school programs. We have learned how to partner with local churches and businesses to offer gardening events. We have had great feedback on this and look forward to doing more of it. We prioritize programming involving youth in Fayette County's food deserts (areas that lack access to healthy, nutritious food) because children tend to be early adopters of change. By demonstrating what fun it is to harvest together, and by sampling food that is fresh and flavorful, we are helping our participants learn to want such healthy food.

The next step after cultivating the desire for such fresh food is to create opportunities for people grow and harvest their own vegetables. We plan to address this desire by improving 7 lots that Seedleaf has been given by the city of Lexington in food-insecure areas. These lots have a free u-pick space where neighbors can harvest fresh vegetables for themselves.

ExperienceWith training in mental health, and a background in experiential education, I have found gardening in community to be a happy marriage of a number of my passions. My conversion to gardening was inspired in part by David Wagoner and an apprenticeship at Three Spring Farm. I see now how gardening can promote a community's health by sharing meaningful work and nutritious, local food.

DescriptionService Education and Entrepreneurship in Downtown Spaces--we offer this unique job-training program to area youth between the ages of 11 and 14. Participants work with us each week in June and July and are able to earn a stipend of $200. They learn how to grow, cook, and sell/market fresh vegetables in their neighborhoods. They also visit area restaurants (Windy Corner) and other food-related initiatives (Lexington Farmers Market). SEEDS graduates become local food advocates, ambassadors for the local food movement.

Budget6000

CategoryEducation, General/Other Elementary & Secondary Education

Population ServedChildren Only (5 - 14 years), At-Risk Populations,

Program Long term SuccessLong-term success of the SEEDS program would include one or more of the following indicators:

Area youth make positive connections with area leaders in culinary arts and in agriclutire.

Area youth make positive changes in their own eating habits.

Area youth come to see the value of working hard and growing one' s own food.

Examples of Program SuccessIn 2013 we observed that several SEEDS graduates went on to attain part time work at Smithtown Seafood, a restaurant operated by Ouita Michels. Chef Ouita has been a supporter and instructor for our SEEDS program, and we are glad for a chance to help our students make this important connection!

DescriptionSeedleaf maintains 15 community gardens on the north side of Lexington. These are free u-pick spaces, meaning that neighbors and volunteers can help themselves to the free produce that they recognize.

In 2016, 300 pounds of fresh produce will be harvested by residents of food deserts in North Lexington.

Program Long term SuccessWe hope to see an improved quality of life for our neighbors by reconnecting to healthier and more sustainable foodways. Desired outcomes of our work include a decreased risk of diet-related health problems such as obesity and diabetes for our neighbors living in food deserts on the North Side of Lexington. Through hands-on educational garden programming, we hope to provide community members with the knowledge and skills necessary to grow food in their neighborhood, whether at a Seedleaf garden location, or in their own backyard.

DescriptionSeedleaf picks up organic vegetable waste from 23 area kitchens and restaurants and composts this material at 8 of our community gardens. In partnership with the Division of Waste Management, and a team of volunteers, we are able to generate over 5000 gallons of finished compost each year.

Program Short Term SuccessThe Compost Partners program is giving a group of volunteers a meaningful service opportunity each week throughout the year.

Program Long term SuccessOur Compost Partners program is diverting an important component of our county's waste stream away from the landfill and back into a system whereby we can make our city not just a center of consumption, but also a center of production.

Program Comments

CEO CommentsCapacity is our biggest challenge. We at Seedleaf pride ourselves on doing a lot with a little, and on doing thoughtful, caring work in an efficient way. But with a small staff, we have to be careful about which good projects we take on. Our board and director are working together to map out a strategic plan that will help us prepare for further success, and to take advantage of more of the unique opportunities being offered.